24 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



and after that performance the speed is resumed. Sometimes 

 when gliding down to alight — even when dropping his legs to do 

 so — this bird began with the bleating "buzz," ending with the low 

 " wote, wote " ; so that I feel certain the bleating is a combination 

 of the ordinary Dunlin whistle prolonged and the low "wote, 

 wote," and, so far as I have observed, is only uttered by the 

 male — one of these two, at any rate — the one with the richer 

 and darker back. For five hours I kept a strict eye on the 

 lighter bird, and she never once attempted the bleating ; and, 

 while the darker one took frequent excursions over the marsh, 

 the light one was almost constant about the spot where I first 

 flushed it. She was there in attendance when I left the marsh, 

 and I concluded that the eggs had not yet commenced incubation. 

 During a storm of thunder, lightning, and rain (June 18th) I 

 was attended by the Dunlins of last week, on the self-same spot. 

 They seemed more excited, which I took as a good sign. At in- 

 tervals I missed one or other of them, for they wandered far over 

 the marsh. I watched them as far as I could see, and I more 

 than half suspected that the missing bird doubled back and 

 returned to the nest, while the other one that stayed bluffed me 

 with his presence. Even during the heavy downpour the bleating 

 came from a height in the air, where the male was flying. 



Beginning to feel the dampness, and having accepted the 

 conjecture that I was being outwitted by the strategy of the 

 Dunlins, and that the nest was on some other portion of the marsh, 

 I left her to search a piece of ground two furlongs away, over 

 which I had detected the missing Dunlin flying. The female 

 followed me in this direction, becoming more excited, and I was 

 soon aware of a second Dunlin, calling low in passing me. I at 

 once felt certain I had found the breeding-ground. There were 

 other Dunlins on the marsh, but these passed in hurried flight, 

 piping out the ordinary note. Occasionally, for a distance, they 

 were accompanied by the breeding pair, giving the low notes. 

 Taking up a post that overlooked this last position frequented by 

 the uneasy pair, I was soon convinced that the nest was on the 

 old breeding-ground. Determined to proceed with a method I 

 had formed of quartering the ground, I began striding, while the 

 Dunlins flew anxiously around me, calling all the time. In my 

 very first crossing I was rewarded by finding four baby Dunlins, 



